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Summary: Extraordinary and Original
Review: This is a brilliantly conceived, extraordinarily moving, and vividly written novel. The story is told by a fifteen year old autistic savant who is brilliant at math and logic. He resolves to find out who murdered a neighbor's dog and in the process discovers truths about himself and his world. He also uses the skills of Sherlock Holmes, his favorite detective, to unearth clues that the rest of us would overlook. The word "novel" originally meant new, and this original book is certainly that.
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Summary: A Must Read!!
Review: Wonderful!! Mark Haddon masterfully captured the logical mind behind the mask of an Asberger's sufferer, that we often cast aside as "slow", instead of trying to understand. By having the story presented through the eyes of Christopher, it allows you to slow down and think about things the way he does and see that he is anything but slow. His logic clearly makes sense. Tragically, it also makes very clear, the lack of ability to exhibit deep emotions.I enjoyed the way Christopher viewed the differences in his relationships with his father, his neighbor, and strangers. His boundaries were more steadfast than most children we see who are so quick to trust strangers. By taking us through his memories and giving good examples, we get a "map" of how and why his mind works the way it does. Thus, Christopher cared that the dog had been killed, simply because he liked dogs. Innocent and logically brilliant!
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Summary: And now for something refreshingly different . . .
Review: Curious Incident is a novel that is wonderfully clever and informative. Made me wish I had paid more attention in high school math classes! I learned tons and tons about autism, which especially interests me in that a dear nephew of mine is autistic. All the reviewers mention how funny the novel is. Well, it does come across that way, but to my mind it is more tragic than amusing. The teenage protagonist is disabled and his parents are so very lost and self-destructive. Christopher (the main character) is prevented by his literalistic mind from acknowledging the possibility of a merciful God. That is truly sad, because his little world proves itself in dire need of grace, love, and forgiveness.
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Summary: Memorable and Majestic
Review: Thanks to the good advice of a person knowledgeable about great new fiction reads, I decided to pick up a copy of freshman author Mark Haddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time." The author works as a creative writing instructor at Oxford with occasional forays into writing and illustrating children's literature. Most importantly, Haddon once worked with autistic individuals, a fact that certainly provided the foundation for this groundbreaking novel. Haddon is the author of the book, but the perspective the story takes comes directly from the mind of a fictional fifteen year old British autistic named Christopher Boone. This is Boone's story, and what a wonderful tale it is. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is nominally a murder mystery story, but it is really more than your typical whodunit. Instead, we get a story about life itself from a most unlikely source. When Mrs. Shears's dog Wellington dies a violent death, next-door neighbor Christopher Boone realizes it is up to him to solve the homicide. There are numerous obstacles in Christopher's path: no one seems to care about Wellington's death, his father outright orders him to cease his investigations, and Christopher is an autistic. Christopher's inability to connect with people on an emotional level makes asking questions about the crime extraordinarily difficult. Even worse, young Boone cannot read facial expressions; he does not understand various shades of emotional states. This disability will cause serious problems with his investigation, but Christopher understands his liabilities and resolves to use his logical mind to unmask the murderer. As the story progresses, Christopher recognizes he must overcome many of his fears in order to accomplish his goals. His fear of the color yellow must not stop him from taking a trip on a train; his mania about crowds and excessive noise must not stop him from asking questions or moving around town; his ignorance about areas outside of his house and school must not stand in the way of a trip to London. As Christopher homes in on a solution to Wellington's death, he understands that a dog's untimely demise profoundly changes his own life in ways he never foresaw, especially in his relationships within his family. I am not particularly familiar with the intricacies of autism, at least not beyond what I picked up through a few movies and several articles in the newspaper. From what I do understand about this medical condition, Haddon seems to conflate several different types of autism into one character. Christopher hates physical contact, possesses bizarre fears about colors (yellow and brown), cannot stand to have food touching on his plate, often drifts off into intricate mental exercises, possesses an amazing capacity for mathematics and numbers, and often groans or resorts to violent outbursts when overwhelmed with sensory input. I doubt whether one individual autistic could really contain all of these attributes, but like I said, I do not know enough about the condition to refute Christopher's character traits. I will say that allowing Christopher to possess all of these quirks makes for a more interesting novel. It also allows for several humorous sequences, such as when Boone lists "Hating France" as one of the reasons people consider him a behavioral problem. Another section that causes a few chuckles occurs when Chris lists the reasons why he despises brown and yellow. After reading this list, who can really argue against his points? Brown and yellow are weird, and you will think about Christopher's logic the next time you bite into a banana. What impressed me the most about Haddon's story is how an enormously emotional and private family turmoil emerges through the eyes of an individual who simply cannot make complex emotional connections. Christopher's ultra logical mind never fully grasps the reasons for the fractures in his family life, but the reader does and it makes the emotion in the novel even more vivid. It's as though you want to reach into the story and shake Christopher into awareness, and the knowledge that you cannot reach him any more than those around him imbues the book with an awesome power. I am not at all surprised to see that many people cried at the end of the story; I must confess to a certain mistiness around my eyes and an inexplicable knot in my throat as I closed the cover for the last time. Haddon's book is powerful, and I frankly cannot imagine how this author will ever top the magisterial beauty of this book. Since I finished Haddon's book I have mentioned it to several people I know. I even got my mom to read it (she thought it wonderful, too). I think word of mouth is how this book will become a classic, since it does not appear on any bestseller lists that I am aware of (maybe it is now). Run, do not walk, to the bookstore or library to get a copy of this novel. It may be a quick read, but it is a memorable read that promises to stay with you long after you finish reading it.
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Summary: A peek into an unusual mind
Review: When you read "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", you get a glimpse into the thought processes of an autistic savant. Written in the form of a journal by the teenaged Christopher Boone, this innovative story ostensibly takes us through the boy's efforts to find the killer of his neighbor's dog. But what we really experience is a bittersweet journey of self-discovery for a boy who finds the world a most confusing and illogical place. Haddon, who has worked with autistic children, does a wonderful job of explaining how Christopher perceives his environment and tries to cope with its perplexities. Examples abound of the contrasts between Christopher's literal, logical thought processes and the more typical imaginative and emotional ones. A powerful illustration of intuition versus logic is presented in a deceptively simple "Let's Make a Deal" probability problem that had me struggling for an entire day before accepting and understanding the answer. Don't let the thought of an unemotionally narrated story with math problems in it put you off, however. This book is a delight in every way. We still witness the emotional impact of events on the people around Christopher. Although we feel frustrated over his inability to read others, we cheer him on as he manages to get by in the world in spite of his disability. There are humorous touches throughout the book to prevent it from becoming too maudlin. What more can I say? Read this book!
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Summary: Fascinating Glimpse into Autism
Review: As a veteran school psychologist, I was amazed at how well Mark Haddon captured what I see are some of the key features of autism. From my perspective, he did a wonderful job of portraying what it might be like to be an individual with autism, giving concrete examples (like the inability to read the facial expressions and emotions of others) and other insights.
I've recommended this book to parents and fellow educators as well as friends as an extremely readable foray into the world of autism.
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Summary: Dynamite Perspective
Review: This is a great look through the eyes of Autism. The main character sees the world in a series of "figure-ground" reversals that the typical person can only scratch their head at. This is a great read for parents and educators trying to get a handle on any type of pervasive developmental dysfunction.
If you are close to anybody with this type of neurological niche, I gaurantee you will enjoy reading the Curious Case...
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Summary: Curious Incident of a Good Book into the Night-Time
Review: I have read many books and have since forgetton what "good literature" is. I confine myself now to reading books that make me laugh, wince, or just turn the pages even wee into the night.
This book grabs you by the neck and doesn't let you go. It's a good thing it's only 200 or so pages.
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Summary: curious book
Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a great first book for a great author. The book is written from the first person perspective from the autistic boy's point of view, so it does get drone after a while reading sentences that lack varying sentence structure. However, the content makes up for this. The book itself is superbly logical (to an extent) and will frustrate you to read if you are capable of harboring emotions. What might anger or sadden you to a deep extent doesn't even make a single dent on the main character. This, however, is the treasured heart of the novel; even though the book is filled with drama and emotions, the main character, the person whom all the actions center around, feels none of it. Instead of multiplies numbers in his head, studies for math, reads about space, and counts colored cars. I highly recommend this novel.
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Summary: poignant, funny and original
Review: This book uses the voice of Christopher to tell the story of an investigation that eventually opens the door to finding out the truth about his own family. Christopher is an individual with high functioning autism and that leads to a unique viewppoint where emotions do not come into play for the main character. However, he uses his own brand of logic to deal wih the world. I read the book in one day, not because it is a short book but because I could not put it down. It is an adventure with someone with a different voice. Amusing, sad, this book is a delight. If you don't know anything about indviduals with high functioning autism, you can get more insight from this novel than from texts and articles dealing with the subject. If you have had experience with autism before, there are many opportunities to identify with Christopher and his parents. A beautiful book and a great read for people tired of detective novels with themes and books dealing with groups of angst filled women.
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